This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.
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- Characters and comics that originated in Spider-Man but are no longer directly connected to the spider-franchise (e.g. Punisher, Silver Sable) are not on-topic, unless you're discussing historical connections and crossovers. If in doubt, check before you write a long post. If this isn't the right place, there's a more general Marvel Comics thread
which covers them.
Technically, Marvel's Infinity Comics (and their predecessors, Infinite Comics) are webcomics, not comic books, but it's fine to talk about their Spider-Man stories here.
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Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM
Funny that despite being one of the original Brotherhood members, Mastermind isn't really all that prominent. He played a part in the Dark Phoenix Saga, but other than that he has basically no notable stories.
Can something have a renaissance when there was never a "good" period to return to?
Edited by lbssb on Aug 13th 2023 at 12:59:19 PM
Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks MarathonThere's precisely one good Judas Traveler story in Clone Saga.
Judas appears to Spider-Man and starts saying that he's going to end up destroying New York one day due to his constantly pushing himself to fighting things that should be left to bigger heroes. So Judas offers to give him back a normal life and bring Aunt May Back from the Dead. Though he does say it will require a Human Sacrifice but it can be someone utterly evil.
Peter goes off on him and says that it would be dishonoring Aunt May's memory and that he'd have to be insane to accept a Deal with the Devil like that even if he believed Judas could do it.
...
Yes, you can guess why I think this is a good Judas Traveler story.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.How did Spidey and Judas end up in the Clone Saga? I don't think any of the X-books have acknowledged that Peter knows he's back. Then again, he's been largely offstage pulling strings via Orchis, so it's not as if the X-Men have fought him face-to-face yet.
I'm hoping this ends badly for him. Would be nice if Peter got to punch him once or twice along the way.
(And, yes, Mastermind's back as well - he got caught in a feud between Sinister and Arcade back in Hellions)
Judas was largely incapacitated in his last Clone Saga appearance, betrayed by Scrier and his own group acting on orders from Norman. Only one member of the Host I believe stayed loyal to him and she contacted Ben to help rescue him, revealing he'd been a mutant carny the whole time and not some omnipotent being.
Comics like this and guardian devil in daredevil and ultimate marvel. Seems to indicate Mysterio could be a top tier threat to anyone not named Spiderman....
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."Spencer showed a really good bit where Mysterio faked an alien invasion that got every hero fighting it.
Also, there's Far From Home.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.I think my question, post-retcon, is what Judas brings to Spider-Man that Mysterio doesn't. Very different personalities, but in practice a similar power set.
Which might be good for a "wait, not Mysterio this time" twist, but yeah, he needs that backstory snd character depth to work.
Maybe the fall of Orchis will give him some new elements to work with.
To extend the Clone Saga.
The TLDR of "The Life of Reilly" was the original Clone Saga was the only comic selling incredibly well during Marvel's bankruptcy so they had orders to keep it going well after they had plans of replacing Peter with Ben. Judas Traveler was meant to keep people invested in the "mystery" of who Judas was and his servant Scrier.
Judas would show up, comment on Spider-Man, tempt him, and torment him like, Ironically, Mephisto.
Then vanish.
No one knowing what his deal was.
Only later did they come up with Norman Osborn being behind both.
Note I read these comics via subscription when they came out and was a HUGE Spider-Man fan.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Aug 14th 2023 at 6:43:09 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.I'm still really impressed by Mysterio nearly driving Daredevil insane in Guardian Devil.
Matt has better senses than Peter arguably, so managing to fool him with illusions and practical effects is arguably more impressive.
I wanted to be impressed by what Mysterio did in Old Man Logan, but since it was a different Mysterio (who's an actual Mutant) I can't say if it's a feat Beck could have pulled, especially since X-Characters have a bigger monopoly on psychics than Disney on literally everything else.
Judas Traveler was an attempt to give Spider-Man an X style bad guy. You know, long on mystery and vague powers and short on being interesting
The tail was wagging the dog pretty badly at the time
Forever liveblogging the AvengersHuh. Now I kinda want to see Beck go up against the X-men. Like, he need to avoid all the members with enhanced senses (so both Wolverines, Wolfsbane, etc) and every Psychic, and even characters with a wide range of attack like bounce optic blasts off walls Cyclops (does he still do that?) and just freeze everything Iceman, but against the right opponents, he'd be a real Outside-Context Problem.
Edit: He and Arcade should really team up. The latter is also a Spider-Man foe.
Edited by HandsomeRob on Aug 14th 2023 at 7:51:00 AM
One Strip! One Strip!The thing about the enhanced senses thing is that they actually don't work on Mysterio's stuff because his gas causes you to hallucinate the senses that would normally let you see past them.
Really, it's only psychic issues that are the problem.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Enhanced senses just give Mysterio more of an avenue to fuck with you. He can deaden spider sense, he can definitely make Wolverine smell something that’s not there
As for Mysterio fighting the X Men? I’m in favor. I’m in favor of mixing things up and having characters interact with different people than usual.
Let’s get some acts of vengeance going
Edited by Bocaj on Aug 14th 2023 at 10:55:19 AM
Forever liveblogging the Avengers

Do the X-Men have any villains like Mysterio?
Old-Man Logan shows there's a good reason why Mysterio should never interact with the X-Men.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"